Leverage Our BILT’s Expertise
Each May, the National Convergence Technology Center (CTC) convenes its Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT) to update a detailed list of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). While most quarterly BILT meetings run 90 minutes, the May meeting runs closer to four hours. The BILT members work through the previous year’s KSA list line by line, ranking each item on a scale of 1 to 4 – a “1” vote means that item can be discarded from curriculum and a “4” means that item must be included in curriculum. After the vote, BILT members can discuss and debate as needed both the voting results as well as the wording of each KSA item. The KSA list is considered a living document; multiple changes each year are common.
This year, the most significant changes were:
* The inclusion of new, separate cloud-specific KSAs, though the expectation is that next year the BILT will decide to integrate those into the “main” list.
* The addition of a new “T” section to the list, so that now it’s really KSA-Ts.
* The creation of a new K item – “knowledge of metrics, how they are developed in general, their purpose, and why they are used” which started as a new cloud-specific K, but after further discussion was moved up into the general Ks section.
You can access the 2020 updated KSA list here.
The purpose of the KSA list is to provide educators specific feedback regarding what entry-level IT workers will need to know 12-36 from now. The BILT always looks ahead, answering “what’s next?” rather than “what’s happening now?,” because higher education curriculum development can proceed slowly. It’s essential to do everything possible to stay ahead of the curve and align curriculum with workforce needs. The hope is that educators will use the CTC’s KSA list with their own local business council and faculty members to make sure curriculum aligns with workforce needs.
Learn more about the BILT model and the KSA vote by referencing these resources
VIDEO: Your Annual Job Skills Validation Vote (10 minutes)
VIDEO: Understanding the KSA Worksheet (7 minutes)
VIDEO: Seven Essentials of the BILT model (4 minutes)
DOCUMENT: Implementing the BILT Model of Business Engagement (16-page PDF)
DOCUMENT: Setting up Google Form and Spreadsheet for KSA Voting (16-page PDF)